Missing flowers likely due to early environmental stresses
Canola growers from BC into Saskatchewan and even Manitoba are reporting aborted flowers and empty racemes (stems). After inspecting fields and consulting with plant physiologists, we believe the failure to flower and lack of normal pod development is caused by plants experiencing a hormone imbalance following early season environmental stress. Different stress factors or combinations of stress factors (from cold to heat to moisture challenges) likely caused similar symptoms in different areas. We are confident that symptoms noted in the fields and samples we have inspected were not caused by recent insect feeding despite lygus bugs and other insects being noted in some of the fields.
Favourable environmental conditions should alleviate the symptoms, but keep in mind that prolonged stress may require prolonged recovery. Growers should continue to actively manage their crop, basing crop input decisions on economic thresholds, soil test results, and expected return on investment. We are not aware of any crop protection or fertilizer products that can more quickly alleviate these symptoms. We will continue to investigate and report findings. (10 reasons for missing pods) (Multiple factors combined may cause missing canola flowers or pods)
